Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!!!

Here are my halloween projects this year…over and out!

 For fun.

 The felty wreath.

 

 The pumpkin carving effort. 

 My version of a lovely cake I spotted some time ago. 

 A sketch heavily inspired the amazingly spooky artist John Kenn Mortensen.

AND last but not least, 

some work I did last year:

Images copyright of HKJ 

The Fungi Fanatic

Over the past few years I have developed a rather baffling obsession with fungi! 
I draw, paint and felt them, regularly spend hours admiring fungi photography, purchase every fungi related object I come across to add to my ever growing collection and always keep my fungi guidebook beside me at work incase, I should ever need to make an emergency identification. 

Earlier this week, by pure chance, I stumbled across an amazing set of 'realistic stress ball' fungi online. After squealing with excitement for 30 minutes and explaining in detail about why I need them and how they will change my life, I finally persuaded my other half to buy them for me. As he grudgingly completed the transaction, his parting comment to me was, "there is something wrong with you". This set me to thinking about my fungi fascination and it's potential causes.

I've narrowed it down to three possible explanations:

• I am weird!!!!!

• The effect of one particular episode of 'The X Files' -yes, I'm a huge fan of that too- upon my impressionable young mind. Mulder and Scully suffered hallucinations from mushroom spores and narrowly escaped being slowly digested by a massive fungi organism. These mile long fungi actually exist.

• Being a vegetarian, I eat vast (and possibly unhealthy) quantities of Quorn -a product made from Mycoprotiens- fungi. After 16 years of consumption, I could well be part mushroom now.

Anyway, whatever the cause, the fact remains that I LOVE FUNGI!
Luckily, I have a friend (yes a real human one) who also loves fungi and was kind enough to take me out foraging the other week. We scoured the grass atop a blustery mountain and were rewarded with the discovery of several lovely varieties of wax cap and puffball fungi. I'd hoped to return home some good photographs, but the odds were against me with the gusty wind, my wobbly hands and the local sheep eyeballing us. 
I can't wait to go out fungi hunting again this autumn, but until then, I've satisfied my mushroom madness with several fungi inspired creative projects. 

   

              

 These are a few of the acceptable photos taken on our outing.

I pulled out my neglected watercolours thinking it would be a therapeutic experience to paint….wrong there!

A lady mushroom…don't ask.

An attempt at sculpting with polymer clay. 

A revisit to some of my favourite old drawings :D

All images copyright HKJ

The Jellyfish Costume

A few weeks back, the news was broken to me that a kendo party I was to attend, was infact a fancy dress occasion. I was mortified! 

To my shame, at the age of 30, I still have to be dragged kicking and screaming to shop for new clothes, I loathe dresses and for the entire duration I am forced to wear a 'smart' outfit, I complain endlessly, sulk and task myself with spoiling everyones day. 

So, as you can well imagine, wearing fancy dress is not my idea of fun (even though I must own up to delighting in small children and dogs being stuffed into ridiculous outfits).

In a cold panicked sweat, I began frantically researching nautical-themed costume possibilities. 

My options included:

Don't dress up at all: The most desirable and comfortable option but I risk looking like a very bad sport indeed.

Mermaid:  Displaying copious amounts of white flesh so late in the year could be chilly and slightly upsetting for the other guests.

Sailor: A sensible choice with not too much fuss involved. Unfortunately, my fiancé had the idea first and with his slim, tall frame, would look far better than me in the costume. 

Person being eaten by a shark: The very real fear that even an XXL shark costume could not fit something my size into it's sharp maws.

Pirate: I guessed this would be another popular choice and feel I lack the flamboyance to effectively pull it off.

A fish: The thought of squeezing like a fat sausage into a shiny, scaly, obscenely skin tight ensemble was a revolting thought even for me. 

Seaweed: Fast running out of ideas now.

Jellyfish: EUREKA!!!!!!!! Jellyfish are COOL!!!! 

With an umbrella, 3 million staples, needles and thread, bubble wrap, several meters of iridescent fabric, reels of ribbons and some patience, I managed to cobble together my very own jellyfish. The most wonderful part of the whole costume was that I could wear my scruffy old jeans and t shirt underneath, hidden by the swaying tendrils. What a cunning interpretation of a fancy dress costume, if I say so myself. Amazingly, I must add, I won a bottle of prosecco and a super-cute, Sensei-signed fish hat for the best costume prize of the night. 

Here is a photo of me modelling the outfit in the garden (yes my neighbours are no longer surprised at the bizarre things that go on at our house) and a small video of my jellyfish floating in a pretend sea. 

Whilst researching my costume I became rather captivated (and more than just a little obsessed) with the magical colours and beautiful sweeping shape of the jellyfish. Thus I began creating more jellyfish………..

 An attempt at improving my digital art work.

A pencil study

 A little feltie Jelly

Something from last year, but hey it has jellyfish, so onto the blog it goes.

All images Copyright HKJ